Today I got the newly-infamous Naked Naturals "pittance check". I submitted for this rebate (Try Me Free tag on the bottle) and the geniuses at the company have decided to only reimburse people the cash amount that they paid. So since I bought mine at CVS and used EB's to pay, I only got back $0.44. Seriously Naked Naturals? Seriously? If I have time, I'm going to call them and give 'em a lesson on EB's. If I don't have time, I'll just return the shampoo and get my money back on a CVS money card. $0.44 profit. Thanks NN! Idiots.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

I'm sure you've noticed that lately I haven't been doing as much shopping as I've done in the past. Its mostly because of my new job, which has been totally kicking my arse! I've been working through my lunch break more days than not and staying late more days than not. By the time I leave, I'm totally exhausted and haven't really felt like doing any shopping. Plus there hasn't really been much on sale that I've wanted to buy or needed, so its been nice to take a break.

My boyfriend loves the Gilette razors that are on sale this week and my shampoo stockpile has been dwindling (I know! Shocking!), so we did some serious shopping today. It was so tiring. I'm also getting pretty sick of this coupon nonsense. My regular paper, The Star Ledger has stopped carrying the RP inserts, so I've been driving into a different county (only about 5 minutes away) to buy a paper there that carries the RP. Unfortunately, I've noticed that the coupons in this paper aren't as good as the Star Ledger coupons, so even though it has the RP, its really not worth buying. So today DBF and I tried a different paper. DBF checked one before we bought it and then we grabbed five more copies. We went out to the car to cut out the Gilette coupons from the P&G, only to discover that the paper he checked was pretty much the only one that had coupons in it. Sigh. We ended up going to CVS and buying some Star Ledgers anyway. What a hassle.But before we get to the shopping, I must share this picture with you. My sister, dad and I went to my grandpa's house the other night and sorted through some old photos. My sister brought along a scanner so that we could have a copy of some of the beautiful, older photos of my grandparents and every once and a while, we'd come across a gem like this one. Don't worry, I will be sharing these treasures with you in the days to come. This is me, hamming it up for the camera. You can't even see my eyes! haha And that's one of my many uncles, sporting a seriously rockin' hair-do. I love those 80's glasses. Ok, down to business: CVS - my card

4 papers $2 each

Used two $4 EB's

CVS - DBF's card

Fall wreath (below, isn't it adorable?) $9.99

2 papers $2 each

Used $3 EB and $6.99 EB, total was $4.70

Rite Aid - *Just realized the Crest rang up as $3.99 each, so I probably bought the wrong size. I'll have to do an exchange for these. I should have bought the 4 oz size.

DBF bought these same items, but instead of napkins bought 3 Pringles @ $1.50 each, total was $12.27, paid with gift card. Gift of Savings progress - not really sure to be honest, but I'm slowly getting there! I've qualified for $5 on both accounts so far.

On Saturday, DBF and I went to Rite Aid and got 6 more Reese's pb cups for free using the BOGO coupons and the BOGO sale. We also stopped by ShopRite and picked up some rainchecks for Flex-a-Min glucosamine for $5.99 a bottle (free with the $6 coupons that are always floating around). Thanks for that tip Amiyrah.

Rite Aid - get a $5 off $20 coupon by watching a whole bunch of absolutely thrilling RA commercials here. Tip - when your coupons display, you can print multiple copies then (not later) or do what I did: hit the Print Screen button on your keyboard and paste them into Microsoft Word for later printing if need be. :)

Theraflu Nighttime (6 ct) $4 each, buy two and use two $2 coupon and/or $2 coupon from Healthy Savings book (is this a Walgreens coupon? I'm not sure...will automatically take off $4) and get back $4 RR (WYB 2) = $4 profit if the Healthy Savings coupons are WAG coupons, FREE if not

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

This is a picture of my wonderful grandmother. She was a beautiful, strong woman. Mother to seven children, grandmother to 21 and great-grandmother to one, she was an inspiration to so many. My family laid her to rest today and we are all heart-broken. She passed away at the age of 87. She died at home, surrounded by the family that loved her. She fell last weekend, breaking her pelvis and her body just started to shut down. She had suffered from dementia for many years and it was so sad to see the grandmother I once knew slowly fade away. When we visited her after her fall, she kept saying how fortunate, lucky and blessed our family was.She and my grandfather had been married for 65 years. Aren't they a beautiful couple? This picture was taken shortly after they were married. She was a beautiful person through and through and had the best sense of humor. Many of my favorite memories of her include her cracking jokes, telling stories about the good ol' days and laughing. She had a wonderful outlook on life and never let things get her down. My sisters and I visited her a year or so ago and she came into the living room wearing her sweatpants inside out. My grandfather pointed this out to her and she did a little booty-shake and laughed at herself. She always listened to what everyone had to say and made everyone feel special and loved. She was the heart of our family and I miss her so much.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Is anyone else shocked that Barbara Padilla did not win America's Got Talent last night and the chicken catcher won instead? Come on now! I don't even think he's that great a singer. Each week I was shocked when he was voted through one more time. I loved the Fab Five too, they were so much fun to watch! ShopRite

Carbona color catcher sheets $0.99 each, used $1 coupon (9/13 paper - came with a sample in the paper, not in a coupon insert) = FREE/$0.01 profit

6 Franco Rinaldi pasta sauces $0.88 each (4 day price break) *Also got a raincheck for four more. These are my favorite!

The cashier had some crazy notion that I couldn't use both Perdue coupons. In reality, it beeped because it was a $2 coupon on a $1.99 item, which I explained to her. She called over someone from CS who looked at her like she had three eyes and said "why can't she use two coupons? She's buying two." Hello! That's what I said. She said she got in trouble for doing that previously. I said to her - "well, you shouldn't have. Your store's policy is that you can use up to four of the same coupon." Hello!Gigi wanted to say hello. She's been working on her poses and calls this one - "Surly, Yet Intrigued"

Pepsi 12 packs four for $12, get back $3 EB (WYB 4, Limit 1) = four for $9 or $2.25 each

Rite Aid - there is a $5 off $25 coupon on coupons.com or you can get a $5 off $20 coupon by watching a whole bunch of absolutely thrilling RA commercials here. Tip - when your coupons display, you can print multiple copies then (not later) or do what I did. Hit the Print Screen button on your keyboard and paste them into Microsoft Word for later printing if need be. :)

Monday, September 14, 2009

2 J&J Baby Shampoos $2.99 each, used two $1 peelie coupons (printables available here or use coupon from 9/13 RP) = $1.99 each

I "fixed" yesterday's glitch by buying two more J&J shampoos. I'm going to return one of the items I bought yesterday, so my OOP for this rebate will now be $14.90 and I'll get back $15 (SCR #43), so FREE. I'm counting a $5 off $20 coupon in this calculation ($2.99 x 10 - ten $1 coupons - $5 off $20 coupon = $14.90 OOP, $15 rebate).

2 J&J Baby Lotions (*Rang up as $3.29 each so be careful if you buy these), J&J Baby Powder, 3 J&J Baby Shampoos and 3 J&J Head to Toe baby lotions - all $2.99 each, used $3 off 3 coupon, $2 off 2 coupon and two $1 coupons (had three of these but just realized he didn't scan the third, grr! Coupons available here or in 9/13 RP), will get back $15 (*once I buy one more, WYB 10, SCR #43) = $4.91 OOP ($6.90 OOP once I buy my tenth one)

Gift of Savings progress: $30.89 spent, qualified for $5 SCR already :) This makes up for the missed J&J coupon and the $0.24 I spent on the body wash. I probably would have passed on these deals entirely if it weren't for the GOS program.

Walgreens - had some RR's to use up and couldn't get excited about buying any sale items so I "burned" the RR's instead. The kitties were completely out of treats so I'm sure they don't mind.

2 Mega packs of Solo cups $5 each (not pictured)

Friskies cat treats $2.19

2 Whiskas cat treats $1.79 each

Used $2 RR, $3 RR, $4 RR and $5 RR, total was $2-something (can't find the receipt for the life of me)

On Sunday, DBF and I poked around a local craft fair and I fell in love with this beauty. I'm not sure what I'm going to put in it yet, but I'm sure I'll find something. We also picked up this cork magnet for $1. Apparently, there's a winery named "Naked" or so the guy who makes these magnets told me. I was a smidge embarassed that he noticed I picked up this particular magnet, but oh well. He made 'em, right?

Don't know what "GOS is"? Let me tell you! Its the Rite Aid Gift of Savings program. Between 9/13 and 10/17, when you...

Spend $25, you'll get back $5

Or spend $50.01, you'll get back $10

Or spend $100.01, you'll get back $20

This is on top of all their regular rebates! So if you were to buy the Suave lotion listed below, you'd get back the $1 for that rebate, and the $1.99 purchase price also counts towards your GOS spending. Don't forget about all your little purchases too, a newspaper here, a gallon of milk there - it all adds up. Its a beautiful thing!

As always, my deals all come from the wonderful folks at HCW, Slick Deals and Erica at iheartcvs.com, iheartriteaid.com and iheartwags.com.

Rite Aid - there is a $5 off $25 coupon on coupons.com or you can get a $5 off $20 coupon by watching a whole bunch of absolutely thrilling RA commercials here. Tip - when your coupons display, you can print multiple copies then (not later) or do what I did. Hit the Print Screen button on your keyboard and paste them into Microsoft Word for later printing if need be. :)

Triaminic Night Time Cold & Cough $5 each, buy two, use $2 Walgreens coupon (from the Healthy Savings booklet found in stores, will take off $4 automatically) and get back TWO $5 RR's (appears to be a glitch so I'm not sure how long this will last) = *Look for UPC 300436344045

True North Nut Crisps or Clusters $3, use $1 coupon (or 2/8 SS) and get back $3 RR = $1 profit or FREE without coupon

Monday, September 7, 2009

I've been a busy bee today! I spent a good deal of time organizing my stockpile room in my garage - moving all of the same things together (I had shaving cream in three different places), straightening things up and using a marker to write expiration dates on a lot of things - soda, salad dressing, peanut butter, toothpaste, Crystal Lite and contact solution. I also rotated my soda around so the oldest soda gets drunk first. I've discovered that flavored sodas (ie. cherry Pepsi, Sprite, etc) taste ok if they're past the date, but regular old soda just doesn't (plain old Coke or Pepsi). Last week I found a case of Pepsi that had slowly been leaking all over the garage floor, so I'm making a conscious effort to rotate the cases around and drink them in order. I also took everything out of my pantry upstairs, put aside food that's getting close to the expiration date to be donated and wrote the expiration date on everything else so it will be easy to keep track of dates. ShopRite

Blue Bunny Sedona frozen yogurt $4.99, used $2 coupon (received with rebate check from a rebate I did in July), will submit for Try Me Free rebate = $2 profit

9 Ronzoni pastas $0.59 each (Limit 4 per variety)

2 Arnold Country Breads $1.88 each

Thomas English Muffins 12 pack $1.88

Bananas $1.08 ($0.39/lb)

Got $0.10 bag discount, total was $14.92

Rite Aid

Craig DVD player $24.99, will get back $5 (SCR #2) = $19.99

Used $5 off $20 coupon, total was $21.74 - paid with gift card I received as part of a July rebate

My DVD player recently bit the dust so getting a new one for about $16 and not having to use any cash sounds pretty darn'd good to me.

CVS - FYI - when you cash in rainchecks, the system will automatically bump the EB amount up to a whole dollar. So $1.99 becomes $2.

Thanks for this one Sarah! 2 Schick Quattro women's razors $9.99 each and 2 Schick Quattro cartridges $9.69 each, BOGO sale and used four $4 coupons (8/28 All You magazine or 8/23 SS) = $3.68 for all four *You could just buy these and use a $4 off $20 coupon to make them totally free. That's what I'd originally planned to do but then I decided to cash in some rainchecks while I was there.

Raincheck from 7/19-7/25 2 CVS/Its Academic Vinyl Binders $1.99 each, got back $4 EB (Limit 2) = FREE/$0.02 profit *The raincheck on these was for $3 and $3 EB, but since they only rang up as $1.99 each, they couldn't adjust the price up. It threw off my transaction a bit, which is why I added....

2 CVS nail clippers $1.19 each

CVS Oregano $0.88

Used $3 off $10 CVS purchase coupon (got from scanner today), $4 off $20 coupon (ask Pharmacist about Ready Fill program and they should give you a coupon booklet), $11.37 EB, $2 EB and $1 EB, total was $3.04

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Man, what a beautiful day it was here in Jersey! 70 something degrees, not humid, a cool breeze in the air - it was just perfect. It was nice to have a break from scouting around for newspapers and doing Sunday shopping as well. DBF and I decided to head up to the Garret Mountain Reservation in West Paterson. The park is huge and has lots of walking trails, picnic areas and a beautiful observation area of the city below. As soon as we walked up to the ledge to have a look, Shadow decided to jump up ON the ledge. We hadn't gotten that close and I didn't know what was even on the other side. I pictured a vertical drop-off and Shadow hanging over the precipice, secured only by her collar. She nearly gave me a heart attack! DBF grabbed her and got her down lickety-split, but I don't think my heart rate returned to normal for a good three minutes. When I finally regained consciousness, I wiped the sweat from my brow and plucked up the courage to see what Shadow's fate would have been if DBF's reflexes hadn't been so fast. I went right up to that wall of death, peered over and saw the ground below me, a whole foot and a half down. Crisis averted!

I love the look of this church. Some churches have such interesting architecture, don't they? DBF was quick to point out that the local jail is right next door, which took away some of its glamour. Thanks for keeping it real honey!

DBF was in heaven over the park's collection of tanks. You have to admit, those "wheels" are pretty sweet. You wouldn't have any trouble driving to work in a snowstorm in one of these bad boys.

As usual, I was happily tottering around behind my boyfriend, taking pictures of weeds and such.

Shadow enjoyed the sunshine too. She loves going exploring with us, whether we end up at a pet store, hiking at a park or going for a long Sunday drive. She ain't picky.

When we got home, we decided to continue the photo shoot with the felines. I wouldn't say that Mousse especially loves the camera. He usually goes running the other way when he sees it pointed at him. This was the furthest he dared venture out from under that chair. Brave little soul, huh?And Gigi...well, I don't know quite what to say about this shot. Caption: "Approach...if you dare."

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

I just love this picture, although I think it might be better with a pirate caption instead. "Oh me hearty, this houndin' bizness ain't for the lily-livered!" There, that's much better! By the way, did you know that September 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day? Exxxxcelllennt.....

Due to the holiday weekend (no, not Talk Like a Pirate Day, you'll have to wait a couple weeks for that), there will be NO COUPONS in the Sunday paper. However, to slightly make up for that, there's a Try Me Free rebate for any variety of Blue Bunny Aspen or Sedona frozen yogurt - valid 9/5 - 9/7 ONLY. There were $2 coupons in the 8/2 SS. I bought some of the Sedona yogurt when they did this same rebate for the 4th of July and its not bad.

As always, my deals all come from the wonderful folks at HCW, Slick Deals and Erica at iheartcvs.com, iheartriteaid.com and iheartwags.com.

Thanks for this one Sarah! Schick Quattro women's razors and cartridges BOGO sale, buy two razors ($9.99 each) and two cartridges ($10.39 each) and use four $4 coupons (8/28 All You magazine or 8/23 SS) and a $4 off $20 coupon (ask Pharmacist about Ready Fill program and they should give you a coupon booklet) = $0.38 for two razors and two packs of cartridges

I really thought I was done with Target after yesterday's shopping, but then as I was organizing some coupon inserts DBF's mom had given me, I found six more copies of the 8/23 RP, so off I went. Unfortunately, in the cashier roulette, I picked a dud. She scrutinized every coupon and noticed that the BOGO coupons were taking off $4.26 instead of $0.84 - rats! She would only let me use five of the same coupon (never heard that one before at Target but whatever) so I have one lonely $3 and BOGO coupon left. She even took my Target coupons over to CS for approval (but then proceeded to scan ALL five copies even though they say one per customer, hehe). Only minor overage today. That's ok, free dog food is fine with me, but I was hoping for a lot more overage to eat up the cost of my other items. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

5 Purina Chef Michaels bags of dry dog food $4.26 each, used five $3 coupons (8/23 RP) and five $1.50 Target coupons (click on "Target Coupons" and print as many as you want - they do say one per customer so you may be only able to use one at a time) = $1.20 profit

Total Cost to me (after rewards earned and rebates): $126.96 *This isn't all cash though. If I use a store reward (ie. RR or EB) to pay, its counted in this total because I used it as payment (I don't consider these coupons). Maybe I should start tracking how much cash I actually use each month...hmm...

Total Profit: $179.65

# of Items: 625, # of Free Items: 451

Rebates & Rewards Received:

Cashed in 3,600 points on My Points for a $25 CVS gift card. I've used My Points for years and basically just reply to the emails they send me. The points add up really quickly!

I gave a bunch of diabetes meters to DBF's mom's friend and she bought me a $25 Kohl's gift card as a thank you. Wasn't that sweet?

$17.98 Staples photo paper x 2 (my address and DBF's address)

$14.69 RA July rebates

$7 RA July rebates (DBF's name)

$10 Healthy Dentist parent's address & DBF's address - Finally! I sent an email to info@thenaturaldentist.com to inquire about the status of my rebate. Wouldn't you know it but I got the check about two weeks later - what an amazing coincidence

$3.68 Staples photo paper x 2 (my address and DBF's address)

$10 Visa gift card (Staples pencil sharpener rebate) *Had purchased two of these but found out the hard way that if you use the same Staples rewards card on both purchases, one of your rebates will be denied. :(

$5 Zantac rebate x 2 (my address and DBF's address)

$25 RA gift card

Voucher for FREE pack of Huggies diapers (RA rebate)

eBay profits: $15 - haven't really been selling much lately as you can tell

Wanna know how I figure all this out? Read all about it here and here.